A Lehigh County Prison inmate escaped from two Lehigh County sheriff's deputies yesterday while attending the funeral of a brother who died last Monday after being washed over a Lehigh River dam last week.

Police said Michael Marucci, 19, leaped to the sidewalk from a restroom window in the Kulik Funeral Home, 426 Hanover St., Allentown, just before the funeral service began for his brother, 11-year-old Jason.

Marucci, who was jailed pending trialon theft charges, had been granted a two-hour furlough to attend the service. He asked the two deputies to remove his handcuffs while he attended the service. The deputies complied with the plea.

"He promised us he would be good, so we took off the cuffs," a sheriff's deputy said.

Marucci went into a restroom about 10:15, locked the door and leaped 10 to 12 feet out of a restroom window to a sidewalk, according to an account given by Lehigh County Sheriff Ronald Niemeyer. Marucci ran to the rear of the funeral home and was believed to be heading toward Keck Park.

It was not the first time Marucci caused problems for the sheriff's office.

According to another member of the sheriff's staff not connected with yesterday's incident, Marucci "tried to hide and flee" when deputies attempted to pick him up July 10. He was being sought for not appearing in court June 6 on charges of theft and receiving stolen goods. Marucci had been jailed in Lehigh County Prison since July 10. An additional charge for his not appearing in court was added and bail was raised from $3,000 to $5,000.

Reprimands had not been issued to the two deputies, Woodrow Buss and Walter Sadrovitz, who Niemeyer said "do 90 percent of all our transporting."

Niemeyer defended the action of his two deputies. "How could the boy hug his mother and how can he hug his brother with the cuffs on?" he asked. "I don't know that a prisoner has gotten away from these deputies in 10 years."

Asked if an investigation would be conducted, Niemeyer said he intended to inspect the funeral home restroom before making judgment on whether he would reprimand the deputies. "I have to determine if there was any negligence." But asked if he thought he would be issuing reprimands, Niemeyer responded, "I would doubt it at this point."

Letting prisoners out of handcuffs at funerals is standard practice, said Niemeyer. "We would take the cuffs off most anybody unless it was a murder case," the sheriff said. "The fact that Marucci's charges were not serious also was considered."

It isn't standard practice, however, to let prisoners unattended inside a restroom, he acknowledged.

But in this case, Niemeyer said, "the deputies believed the window was high enough from the ground that there wouldn't be a problem." Deputy Walter had inspected the restroom before Marucci was admitted, which was after about an hour of calling hours and just before services were to begin, Niemeyer said.

The deputies remained posted outside the restroom door, said Niemeyer. They didn't hear Marucci get out the window and first knew he was missing about two minutes later when alerted of the escape by someone attending the funeral.

When word of the escape got out, family members ran into the street. The ensuing excitement delayed the start of the services 15 minutes. More than 100 relatives, neighbors and friends were seated in the funeral home at the time. A request for escort of a prisoner to a funeral is made on the average of once every three months, said Niemeyer. The last request was just over a month ago, he said, when an inmate requested to attend his father's funeral. Prison Warden Timothy Carver said he obtained a court order from Judge Robert V. Young giving Marucci a two-hour furlough to attend the funeral.

Allentown police joined sheriff's deputies in conducting a search of the East Side for the blond, slightly-built fugitive. He was wearing blue jeans, a red T-shirt and sneakers when he made his getaway. Niemeyer said several off- duty deputies assisted in the search. "We saturated the area," he said. A wooded area around Keck Park was combed twice with police dogs.

The search team also combed the Lehigh Canal towpath below Keck Park. Conrail workers were alerted to watch the rail bed, which also runs behind Keck Park. Police in Salisbury Township and Bethlehem, as well as security forces at nearby Allentown State Hospital were alerted.

Deputy Sgt. Robert Utsch said Marucci was jailed after he picked him up July 10 at the home of his aunt at 216 N. Jordan St., Allentown, his last known address. Utsch said he was there to serve a bench warrant on Marucci. Utsch said Marucci was not jailed following his arrest for theft earlier this year, but had been released on his own recognizance.

Marucci's younger brother Jason was the 11-year-old boy who died Monday after being washed over the Samuel W. Frank Memorial Dam July 18.

The Rev. Frank Sanders, pastor of Trinity United Methodist Church, where Jason was baptized, used the baptismal ritual of the church as the theme of the service: "Let the children come to Me, do not hinder them; for in such belongs the kingdom of God."

He said the boy was loved by the community, "but even more was loved by God, and he is in God's hands now."

Myrtle Loper led a fund drive so the boy would not have to be buried in a potter's field. "I want to make a point to thank the younger generation," she said. "The kids were 100 percent. They went around and brought in money in coffee cans."

Approximately $1,700 had been deposited as of yesterday in the Jason Marucci account in Unionbank.